Time and space
by loulouflowerpower
Summary: A group of one shot's that feature the Doctor and my OC Time Lady, the Hatter, either off-screen or mentioned throughout the series (past, present, and future). Features all incarnation's.
1. Chapter 1 Pain and Loss, they define us

_**Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love.**_

_**10 Doctor and 9 Hatter.**_

The Hatter run her hand through her hair while she paced the length of her bedroom, every now and then she would pause before shaking her head and continue to pace. She could tell how upset the Doctor was with Madame De Pomadour's death, even though they both knew how and when it would happen; it still came as a big blow to him.

A moment later, there was a knock at the door before the Doctor walked in, his hair was mussed and he still looked quite upset but he still managed to smile, "How are you settling into your room? I left it exactly the way it was".

"Yes, it's wonderful to be back," the Hatter nodded, eyeing him for a moment before looking away; "I never thanked you, did I?"

"Thanked me?" he repented, looking confused, "What…"

"For finding me, I mean," she quickly explained, looking back at him, blushing faintly, "I doubt I would have ever became…well, me again if you hadn't. I spent so long living as a human that I even stopped dreaming about my real life. I started believing that I had simply gone through a phase brought on by the sudden death of my….human parents, I suppose we should call them".

"It was my pleasure," the Doctor smiled softly, walking forward until he was standing right in front of her, leaning his forehead against hers, simply enjoying the feeling of each other's presence within their minds.

"Doctor?" the Hatter asked after a moment, not moving away as she could feel through the brief connection they were shearing how lonely he felt , how much guilt he still felt over the Time War.

"Hmm?" he hummed back, enjoying the feeling of being close to someone, let along that person being his Hatter.

"I truly am sorry for not telling you of my plane to escape," she told him; almost whispering she said it so quietly. The Doctor blinked, opening his eyes and drew back slightly so he could see her face.

"I understand," he said but she only shook her head firmly.

"How could you possibly understand if even I find it hard to believe that I did something like that," she frowned, taking a few steps back until she felt the back of her legs hit her bed, sitting down on it as she ran a hand through her red hair, "To leave my own best friend behind in something as horrible as the Time War? To run away and simply leave behind a note to my own parents like that".

"You were scared," the Doctor crouched in front of her, gently taking her hands and rubbing his thumbs along her pale knuckles, "Everyone was. No one, not even the High Council expected the war to become the way it did. I don't blame you for running".

"You should," she told him, looking slightly sick, "I forced you to do something that I knew would destroy you and all the while_ I_ made my escape to Earth, pretending to be human as you almost went mad with guilt and loneliness. How can _I_, the person who is supposed to be there for you, do such an awful thing?"

"You once told me that fear made people become something they would never usually become," the Doctor reminded her, squizzing her hands tightly as he stared deeply into her eyes, "You are not a bad person, Hatter. Your one of the kindest, caring, compassionate people I have ever met, and I won't let you do this to yourself. I've already seen enough of your tears throughout my life to last two human lifetimes; I'm not going to see you shed anymore. Not over something like this".

"But…" she started but he cut her off.

"No. Hatter, I know you better than anyone. I've seen you stress over exams, complain about your parents, playing with your children, and millions of other things, but I will not watch as you destroy yourself from the inside out over something that can't be changed. Now, why don't you tell me why you gave me the Moment in the first place?"

"You know why," the Hatter sighed, looking down but he quickly lifted her chin with his finger, "Alright, fine, I knew that the person who used the moment would be the only the survivor, it would have given you enough time to get back to your TARDIS and into the safe zone".

"Did you know at the time that you could escape?" she opened and closed her mouth, making him smile, "Well?"

"No," the Hatter admitted quietly, "I…I never even thought about leaving and when I did, I never expected it to work".

"See?" the Doctor grinned, kissing the side of her cheek, "None of it was your fault, you were just trying to save my life even though you knew it would coast me. What you did wasn't bad, it was good, Hatter".

"You do realize how easy it would be to turn your own words against you would be, right?" she asked, giving him a slight smile after a moment, "But seeing how you were helping, I'll let it pass. Just this once, though".

"Good," he smiled back, trying not to show how relived he truly was, "I don't like the idea of the Universe were the Hatter doesn't tease me for everything I do".

"I think I'll take that as a complement, Doctor," the Hatter nodded, laughing slightly before turning serious, "Are you alright, Doctor? I know that you and Reinette were close, I'm sorry".

"No, I'm fine," he shook his head, smiling but as the Hatter continued to look at him, he lost the smile.

"Please don't treat me like a child, Doctor," she sighed, making him wince, "I understand perfectly that you have become so used to not being able to talk freely with someone but you're not alone, not anymore, Doctor. I think we know each other well enough, don't you?"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor nodded, looking slightly ashamed of himself, "I'm still getting used to having you back".

"Understandable," the Hatter smiled, nudging his arm slightly with a playful look, "And if it helps, I never really left you. Not really. Sometimes when things get hard I like to think that my children never really left me, not while I can still picture their faces".

His face softened, "Maybe but I prefer real life Hatter to dream Hatter".

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrows at him, "Dream about me often, do you?" the Doctor blushed, making her laugh, "Don't worry, I once dreamed that you took me to a planet were we had a picnic when your other self's all appeared and we all started dancing around as if we were in this musical. Tell me, Doctor, do you remember if your sixth self was any good at brake dancing? He sure was in my dream".

"Not that I can remember," the Doctor grinned, looking amused as he tried not to think too deeply about the small thrill he felt at knowing she had a dreamed about him, "But it sounds interesting".

"Very," she nodded. They looked at each other before busting into fits of laughter, not being able to stop themselves for a few minutes until the Hatter cleared her throat and asked seriously, "Doctor, are you really okay?"

The Doctor opened his mouth, closing it a few times before nodding, "I wasn't," he admitted, sounding unsure of himself, "But I am now. Just seeing you makes me happy".

"And I think your fibbing," the Hatter smiled, rolling her eyes at him as he gasped dramatically, pretending to fall backwards in shock, "Stop acting like a child, Doctor. Besides, don't you think that's a little old, I mean, I can remember you doing it quite often back in our school days".

"Nope," he shook his head, grinning madly as he picked himself up and flopped down beside her on the bed, plopping his head in her lap.

"You do know that you could grab a pillow, right?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows, looking down at him as she fiddled with his hair.

"You're better than any pillow".

"Thank you," she said before saying slightly less sure, "I think?"

The Doctor simply grinned, his eyes tightly shut as he secretly savoured every moment, eventually both falling into a peaceful sleep at some point during the night.

_**I have no idea where this came from. I was just thinking about how the Doctor and the Hatter never really seemed to talk about the Time War in the begging, or discuss Madame De Pomadour's death, which I think that they would have once the Hatter got it out of him.**_

_**I'm also thinking about doing a series of one short, some long and others shorter because I think that it's a good way to see what sort of things the two Time Lords and companions get up to while not running for their lives. If I get any ideas or if you have any ideas, I'll be happy to give them a go at writing, even if there Classic Who because I have all of the past episodes, start to finish.**_

_**I hope you liked it, please review :)**_


	2. Chapter 2 When TARDISes collide

_**When TARDISes collide.**_

_**4 Doctor, 3 Hatter, and Sarah Jane Smith.**_

The Hatter groaned as she slammed the doors of her TARDIS closed, leaning her back against them as she winced, closing her eyes as her head throbbed painfully. It felt as if there were a million drums being beaten inside her head, never stopping or slowing.

She knew that it was a bad idea to go to Gallifrey, but of course, she had to. She had received an urgent message from her mother requesting, well, more like demanding that she returned home to attend her elder sister's second marriage to none other than the Lord Presidents son. Of course, she had very reluctantly returned home, why would she want waste her time going to someone's wedding when she knew perfectly well that the bride hated her? Even if it was her own sister.

She winced again as she felt another sharp pain shoot through her head, why did that keep happening? That wasn't the only thing wrong with her. Every bone and joint in her body was arching, the tip of her nose was bright pink from how many times she had blown it throughout the day, she felt freezing cold despite how many jackets she put on, and her throat felt red raw.

Of course, most people would simply say that she had a nasty case of the flu, but she wasn't anybody. She was a Time Lady; therefore, she didn't just catch some random bouts of illness that was flying around.

Suddenly, a loud bark like cough rang through the empty console room, echoing off the walls as the Hatter doubled over with the force, shacking like a leaf as she coughed heavily into her hand, falling back against the doors as her coughing fit ended, leaving her breathless and weaker than she had felt in quite some time. Perhaps she did pick something up while on Gallifrey, it wasn't impossible after all, now that she thought about it.

"Sleep," she mumbled to herself, her voice hoarse as she closed her eyes again, rubbing her temples, "Sleep and fluids, that's what I need," she nodded to herself and pushed away from the doors, shakily making her way up to her console, "Maybe I'll spend a few hours in the Zero Room," she continued, mumbling to herself.

When she reached the console, she pulled a leveller and sent the TARDIS flying into the Time Vortex, but as she reached for another button, her entire world turned upside down and her eyes bleared together. She gasped as the pounding inside her head reached a new height and her legs gave way underneath her. She blindly tried reaching out for something to stop her, accidently hitting a random button.

Sirens began sounding, blearing loudly throughout the time machine as the Time Lady covered her already arching ears with her hands, trying to pull herself up on the console, but when she finally managed to, she found she couldn't read the symbols on the monitor with her bleary vision.

"No, no, no…" she breathed, letting out a yelp as her TARDIS jolted violently and began shacking madly, sparks flying everywhere from the console and even small fires began spring up.

It didn't take a Time Lord to relies that the usually well controlled machine was crashing.

"No!" she shouted, her voice cracking, "Stop it!" but it was no use. She tried to stand again, only for her legs to give way as the TARDIS continued to fly out of control, sparks still flying.

Before she realised what was happening, her head spun and everything turned to darkness as she slumped against the floor of her console, unconscious before she hit the floor.

…

"Doctor, I wondering about that moon you mentioned earlier…" Sarah Jane said as she walked into the console room, looking at a book in her hands as she neared the curly haired Time Lord. She frowned as she received no response and looked up to see him staring at the controls on the console, looking slightly forlorn.

Not that this was a big surprise, not at all. The Doctor had a habit of getting into moods when something was bothering him, or when _someone_ was bothering him. That someone being the Hatter, of course. They hadn't managed to run into each other since the whole adventure with the Zygones and UNITE, so it was no surprise to Sarah that the Doctor would be missing the dark haired Time lady. She had to admit that she too was missing her, it was comforting to know that she could talk to her, should she ever need to.

"Doctor?" Sarah asked gently, moving closer to him, looking concerned, "Doctor, are you alright?"

The Doctor blinked a few times before flashing her a wide grin, one that didn't meet his bright blue eyes, "Of course I'm alright, Sarah," he replied, waving off her concern as he glanced back at the controls, "I was just thinking".

"About what?"

He didn't reply for a moment, busy fiddling with the controls before he looked back at her, "Oh, I was just thinking about where we could go next," he said after a moment, "Perhaps I should see if we can finally get to Florana?"

Sarah sighed and nodded, sometimes she just wished that he would open up to her and talk about how he was feeling. Typical man, regardless of what planet he came from.

The Doctor smiled, not noticing her mood, "Good, I'll just put the shields back up," Sarah gave him a questioning, "I was just rebuilding the old girl, she…" but he was suddenly cut off by the TARDIS sending both he and Sarah to the floor.

Alarms began blearing, but before either Sarah or the Doctor could scramble to their feet, the entire time machine jolted again and a loud crashing sounded, sending dust and debris throughout the room, covering the Doctor and Sarah. The Doctor quickly moved and covered Sarah with his own body, both of them burying the faces into the white floor of the console to try and protect themselves.

A couple of moments later, everything began to settle down once more and the Doctor and Sarah lifted the heads, coughing slightly from the dust, "What…what happened, Doctor?" Sarah asked, coughing as he quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed to the controls, "Did we hit something?"

"Or rather did something hit us," the Doctor said mysteriously, narrowing his eyes as he stared at something on the other side of the room, half hidden by the dust still flying through the air.

Sarah frowned, not liking the way he had said as she pulled herself back up and joined him at the controls. She followed his line of sight and gasped, "Doctor," she quickly turned to him, grabbing his hand, looking alarmed, "Doctor, what is that? Is it safe?"

"It's a TARDIS," he replied, frowning as he eyed the time machine now residing in the wall of his TARDIS. The old girl wasn't going to like this.

"So whoever could be inside there, might be a Time Lord?" Sarah questioned, already having a good idea of what the answer would be.

"Almost without a doubt," he nodded, looking more irritated by the idea then pleased, but there still a part of him that couldn't help but think of how familiar this TARDIS was. It was like…his eyes winded in horror as he realised just who this TARDIS belonged to. And if it was hers, that could only mean that she was in trouble. She would never have flown her TARDIS so badly that it crashed; she was far to experienced to do that.

"Doctor?" Sarah frowned as she noticed his sudden change, the way he was staring transfixed at the TARDIS, or whatever it was.

"Hmm?" he blinked, shaking his head he quickly turned to his companion, saying very seriously, "Sarah I need you to listen, I'm going to go inside that TARDIS to make sure everything is right, but I want you to get a first aid-kit and bring it here. Do not go inside that ship unless I tell you to. Understand?"

"But, Doctor…"

"No!" the Doctor cut her off, "Don't argue, this could be the difference between life and death, Sarah, now hurry!"

Sarah Jane frowned, but nodded and turned on her heel, running out of the room and down the hall toward the infirmary. The Doctor didn't bother to watch her go, far to concern for what may have become of his dearest friend as he turned and ran over to the other TARDISes doors. He quickly pulled out a key from out of his breast pocket, over his right left heart, the pocket that he kept everything of the Hatter's in and inserted it into the lock.

The doors popped open, thick smoke billow out with them, making him cough before he grabbed a handful of his multi-coloured scarf and held it to his mouth. What type of possible recuse mission would this be if he ending up collapsing before he had even stepped inside? Shaking his head, he rushed into the room and almost did a double take at the sight.

The once beautiful, steam punk style room was in complete ruins. The bookcases that lined the room were empty, the books they once held now littered all over the floor with piece of the pages left with burn marks or torn. The arm chair that the Hatter often sat in while reading was now lying on its side with burn holes all over it, the table that would accompany it was no better. The dark oak panelling was also covered in burn marks, parts of it were still burning, in fact.

The Doctor winced as he took it in. He knew how much the Hatter loved this room, how even though she had regenerated twice she had still kept it exactly the same, from the books to the furniture, everything was exactly the same from when she had first ran away from Gallifrey in it, but then again, there was just something about it that did just cry out the Hatter's name.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He was supposed to be focusing on finding the Hatter, not on her taste in deco, something which would no doubt amuse her when he found her. He began making his way through the chaos of the room, taking care not to stand on any of the books when he could. She would murder him if he damaged one of them, well, damaged them more than they already were. In a short space of time, he managed to make his way over to her console, wincing again as he noticed how badly damaged it was.

'It would take weeks, maybe even months to repair it properly,' he thought grimly before a small, slightly selfish part of him brightened, 'But that would also mean that she would have to stay with _him_. In _his_ TARDIS. Travelling with_ him_ until they could repair it. Working on it _together_'.

Ooh, so many wonderful things could happen, like….He quickly shook his head again, feeling guilty for how selfish he was being when it was clear that his best friend needed him. He scanned the room, taking in every detail as he searched for her when a flash of red caught his eyes.

Lying on the other side of the room, half covered by books that had fallen from the shelf behind, was the very pale Hatter, dressed in a long red dress that the Doctor recognized at once as being from Gallifrey. She was lying on her stomach, her shiny black hair covered in dust appeared to be duller then normal as it hid the side of her face from view. Forgetting to be careful with the books, the Doctor ran to her side, falling to his knees as he gently rolled her over, lifting her into his arms as he brushed the books covering her legs away.

Her skin was white as paper, far paler then normal for her, and as he touched her check, he released that it felt like she was burning up. Her lips were very pale and dry, looking as if she was dehydrated and the tip of her nose looked sore and pink. The Doctor frowned as he continued to examining her, very gently lifting her eyelid to see bloodshot eyes. His frown depend as he checked her pulse, his eyes winding when he could only feel one heart beating.

"No, no, no…" he muttered, shifting her in his arms so he could listen for himself to her hearts, but only finding one heat beat, "Hatter!" he called as he lifted his head from her chest her and shock her shoulders, tyring desperately to wake her, "Hatter! Come on, Hatter! Just open your eyes!"

But she didn't. She remained still and just as unmoving as before, something that broke his hearts. If one of her hearts wasn't working, that would mean that she wouldn't be able to regenerate, she would just…die.

"That's not going to happen," the Doctor said sternly, filled with confidants. She would never allow that to happen to him, so he would never allow that to happen to her. Never, "Alright, come on," he put his arm under legs and lifted her bridal-style as he stood.

Or though this regeneration of her was quite tall, she was still very light which made it very easy for him to carry her while navigating out of the recharge of her beloved TARDIS. Once outside, the Doctor quickly passed Sarah Jane as she stared, open mouthed at the sight of the unconscious Hatter in his arms, before she quickly shook herself and raced after him, still holding the first-aid kit.

The Doctor ran as fast as he could to the infirmary, laying the deathly pale Time Lady on the bed as he reached the room. As soon as he did, he began racing around the room, grabbing everything he would need before placing them on a small table beside the bed. He then raced over to a computer and typed something in.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Sarah asked, breathless as she ran into the room, casting a worried look toward the Hatter. She had never seen her look this pale before, what could possibly wrong with her?

"She's ill," he replied, not spearing her a glance as he continued typing, "She must have been to Gallifrey recently, that would explain her dress," he gestured to the long red dress the Hatter was dressed in that Sarah had only just noticed, "And picked up the Gallifreyan flu".

"The Gallifreyan flu?" Sarah Jane frowned, "But I didn't think you Time Lords could get sick?"

"It's doesn't happen often. The Gallifreyan flu is a vires, a Time Lord or Lady can only catch the vires only once…"

"Like the chickenpox," she nodded, following along.

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed, moving away from the computer as he began setting up a drip, "Most Time Lords suffer from the illness when their children, picking it up from other kids".

"Then why is the Hatter sick?"

"She hardly spent any time around other children her own age," the Doctor quickly explained, focusing on what he was doing, "Most children develop the illness before they enter into the Academy, by that time the immune system is usually fully functioning meaning that it's almost impossible for the child to fall ill. The Hatter has never suffered from the vires and if she was on Gallifrey for a family advent, which is more than likely, then she would have been under a great amount of stress. Her body would have been perfect to infect".

"But she's going to be alright?" Sarah asked, sounding slightly fearful. She had no idea what she would do without being able to talk to her best friend, let alone what the Doctor would do, "I mean, you will be able to cure her? She can't just…just…" she trailed off, blinking back tears as her eyes fell on to the Time Ladies almost deathly pale face.

The Doctor paused, closing his eyes and swallowing hard before he looked back at her, "Just," Sarah opened her mouth but he quickly silenced her, "Had she been left any longer then she would".

Sarah sighed in relief and nodded, "Is there anything I can do, Doctor?"

The Doctor paused, looking up from where he had been working with a couple of test tubes with different liquids in them. He looked at the Hatter a moment before replying, "Yes," he carefully put the test tubes down and walked over to the side of the bed, gesturing for Sarah to do the same on the other side, "Make sure she doesn't roll off," he told her.

He gently rolling the Hatter onto her side, Sarah quickly did as she was told, "Doctor, what are you doing?" she asked, looking confused as she watched him.

"I'm going to loosen her corset," he explained as he began to undo the back of the Time Ladies floor length red dress, making Sarah's eyes widen. He glanced up and noticed her face, rolling his eyes, "I'm not doing anything improper, Sarah, I am simply trying to make her more comfortable," Sarah blushed bright red and looked down, slightly guilty, "Humans," he muttered, shaking his head.

Once the back of the Hatter's dress was undone, the Doctor quickly set to work on loosening the corset while Sarah simply watched. It was funny how you could picture doing something and end up doing it, but yet it being so different at the same time, the Doctor thought as he struggled with a difficult knot. How women put up with wearing corsets he would never know.

Behind them, the computer dinged and the Doctor quickly rolled the Hatter back onto her back, rushing over to the machine and grabbing a small vial with a clear coloured liquid in it. He hurried back over to the bed and grabbed a device that looked like a dart gun and inserted the vial into it and leaned over to the Hatter, injecting her with the device on the side of her neck.

Almost immediately, the screens connected to the Hatter that showed her vital signs began to settle, decreasing to a more normal rate, aside from only having one heart working. The Doctor sighed in relief, running a hand through his curly mop of hair.

"Is that it?" Sarah asked, looking at the Doctor, "She's cured?"

"Her body will need a good couple of days of rest," he replied after a moment, smoothing a piece of dark hair away from the Hatter's pale face, he could already feel a notable difference between her temperature from before to now, "Her body is exhausted, she'll be unconscious for a while yet, but yes, she is cured".

"Just like that?" Sarah blinked.

"She is a Time Lord, Sarah," the Doctor reminded her, smiling as he looked back down at his best friend, "We recover far quicker than humans. Sleep is what she needs now, I'll get her heart working again, but other than that, it's up to her. Once her hearts working again, she'll slip into a healing coma and her body will finish the rest".

Sarah nodded, "Is there anything I can do to help, Doctor?" she asked after a moment, wanting to be more helpful.

The Doctor flashed her a wide smile, "No thank you, Sarah, but I will be sure to call you if I do".

Sarah frowned, glancing at the Hatter before reluctantly leaving the room, leaving the Doctor to get to work on restarting the Time Ladies heart.

….

Eight hours later, long after the Doctor had managed to get the Hatter's both working, the Time Lady began to stir from the same position that she had been since Sarah Jane had left. The Doctor immediately jumped to his feet, his book that he had been reading falling to the floor as he put a hand on her cheek, waiting.

The Hatter's eyes flickered a couple of times before opening, blinking as she tried to bring everything back into focus, wincing as she felt like every joint in her body was aching. Where was she? Wasn't she…her eyes winded as she remembered that her TARDIS had been crashing, images of what happened flashing in front of her mind as she tried to sit up but something pushed her back down.

"Careful," a deep and very familiar voice said, gently pushing her back against the pillows behind her, "Don't over stress yourself, you'll end up doing more damage to yourself".

The Hatter frowned, or she thought she did, she couldn't quite tell for some reason because she felt very tired, but there was something about the voice, something telling her that she knew them that…and then it clicked into place. The owner of the voice, the man, could only be one other person.

"Doctor, is that you?" she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes began to focus, being able to make out a tall shape leaning above her.

"Were you expecting someone else?" the Doctor grinned, unable to stop himself from running his thumb along her cheek. He would never have been so bold to do something like that while she was fully aware, not unless they were both at risk of dying for fear of her catching onto his feelings for her.

"Yeah, but you'll do for the time being," the Hatter replied, sounding cheeky, well, as cheeky as someone could be while slowly gaining more and more consciousness.

The Doctor blinked, slightly taken aback from her casually remark. This version of her, her Third incantation, was far more serious than any of her past selves, something that she had in common with his own Third incantation, but since she had travelled with him, Sarah Jane, and Harry Sullivan at the very beginning of his new bodies life, she had began to show her less serious side, something that was just one of the things that he loved the most about her. How childish but yet clever at the same time she could be.

Shacking his thoughts away, he flashed her another grin an flicked the tip of her nose, "Don't get cheeky with me after I saved your life," he said, losing his smile and turning serious.

The Hatter rolled her eyes, or tried to as she broke into a small coughing fit. The Doctor frowned and carefully eased her up, rubbing her back as the coughing subsided, "Don't over dramatis things, Doctor," she managed to cough, falling back against her pillows, "I would have been fine. I just needed a few hours sleep".

"You crashed your own TARDIS into mine and one of your hearts stopped working," the Doctor frowned, looking very serious.

"Well, it hardly matters now," the Hatter managed to shrug.

"You almost died, Hatter!" he almost shouted, making the Hatter wince, "This is serious! You would have died, not regenerated, just…died," his voice broke one the last word and he stopped, taking a couple of deep breaths before looking back at her again, "I…I don't know what I would do if that ever happened".

"But I didn't," the Hatter reminded him calmly, struggling for a moment to sit up before giving up and flopping back against the pillows, letting out an irritated groan. She sighed and looked back at him, "Doctor, I know this is serious, it is my life after all and I would much rather continue living it, thank you very much. Now, I understand that you are upset, but what has happened has happed and there's nothing more that can be said".

"Oh yes there is!"

"No there is not," the Hatter cut in, holding up her hand, looking stern, "I was called to Gallifrey for my sister's wedding, I fell ill, crashed my TARDIS, almost died, and now I am cured and recovering. What else is there to speak off?" she frowned, quickly covering the Doctor's mouth when he opened it, "Talking of my TARDIS, there isn't too much damage to it, is there? Or yours?"

The Doctor sighed and moved her hand away, "My TARDIS is fine," the Hatter let out a relieved sigh, "But she might be a bit huffy with you for a couple of days…"

"I wouldn't blame her," the Time Lady said, glancing up at the ceiling, "Sorry old girl, I'll make it up to you…somehow".

The TARIDS gave a soft hum through the room and the Doctor huffed, crossing his arms, "Oh sure," he shook his head, "The Hatter crashes her TARDIS into you and she gets off, but if it was the over way around you would be furies with me".

"I keep telling you that she's found of Time Ladies," the Hatter smiled, looking amused before turning serious, "Doctor, you didn't answer my question, what about my TARDIS? I assume that's because it was badly damaged".

"It's going to take weeks, possibly months to rebuild," he nodded, avoiding meeting her eyes in case she was upset. He always hated it when she cried, "I'm sorry…"

"It was my fault," she cut him off, shaking her head, "I shouldn't have attempted to drive her when I was so ill, even though I didn't think I was at the time," she paused before shrugging, "All well, I don't care how long it take but I will rebuild her again".

There was a short pause before the Doctor said, smiling, "You know, if this was different circumstances, we would be laughing".

Both Time Lords eyes meet and they dissolved into laughter.

_**A big thank you to Lizzie13zzz for suggesting that I write this, I'm sorry about how long it took, but it would have been up sooner had I not had my wisdom teeth removed which I'm still recovering from. If anyone else has any suggestions then I would be happy to writ it.**_

_**So, this was set before Pyramids of Mars but after Planet of Evil, and the Hatter would continue to travel with the Doctor and Sarah until the end of Seeds of Doom, just in case you wanted to know the time line. **_

_**I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	3. Chapter 3 Computer games and Time Lords

_**Computer games and Time Lords, oh dear!**_

_**Featuring the Tenth Doctor, the Ninth Hatter, and Rose Tyler.**_

The Doctor sighed as he wondered the halls of his time machine, searching for something to entertain him. Rose was locked away in her bedroom, doing whatever it was that humans did when they were alone. He didn't quite understand why, usually she would have been more than happy to spend time with him, but since there last adventure with the Beast and almost being sucked into a black hole she had started acting different, well, different from normal.

The Hatter had tried to convince him that he should try talking to her, maybe even pay a visit to Rose's mother, but the Doctor was sure that whatever was going on with Rose wasn't so bad that they needed to see Jackie; needless to say that Hatter hadn't been too pleased by the answer seeing as she had found Jackie amusing, especially after seeing how the older human women handled the Doctor.

Thinking of the Hatter, the Doctor paused and closed his eyes, trying to focus on finding the Time Ladies location with his mind. She had disappeared a few hours ago, complaining loudly and using dramatic hand gestures when he had come to her whining about being bored, going on about something to do with him needing to find himself a proper hobby, hopefully something that didn't include running for his life or exploding things. Both of which being very likely.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, contracting hard when he suddenly felt the very edge of the Hatter's mind brush against his own, allowing him to find her location which just so happened to by only a couple of corrodes and a turn away, leading to the main games room. As he approached the door, he frowned slightly as he eyed the door curiously. The main games room was filled with different computers, each from different planets and time periods, along with different games to go along with them, but he wouldn't have expected the Hatter to be in there.

The Hatter had never really shown any interested in computer games…unless you counted the time she spend two weeks creating a bunch of nasty computer viruses, each one designed to destroy a different computer or console game. Come to think of it, it was a little ironic to think that the Hatter had only just been telling him that he needed a hobby when she had experimented with computer virus for her hobby, and here he was again.

Preparing himself both mentally and physically to possibly have to talk a strong willed Time Lady out of this less than friendly for game lovers hobby, he took a deep breath before opening the doors into the room and stepping inside. He easily found the Hatter, her wavy red hair helping greatly as she kept her back to him, slightly hunched over as she fiddled with the 21st century Earth laptop in front of her, the glow from the screen lighting up the side of her face that he could see.

The room its self was quite large with skylights that ran across the entire ceiling, showing an imagine of the real outside, just like a TV would show different imagines, seeing as they weren't really windows. The floor was covered in thick, soft cream carpet, pale blue painted walls, half a dozen or so mismatching desks were scattered throughout the room, each one with a different computer or laptop from different planets on them, and with a swivel chair neatly tucked under, waiting to be used. At the end of the room, were another set of double doors that would led on to more gaming equipment.

"Please tell me that you haven't gone back to inventing computer virus again," the Doctor called to the Hatter as he walked over to her, half serous, half joking seeing as it was possible.

"Honestly, Doctor, you make me sound like some mad women," she shook her head, sounding more amused than angry as she focused on the screen in front of her, still blocking the Doctor's view of what she was doing, "Whatever would people think if they heard you?"

"I thought it was a reasonable question," he shrugged, peaking over her shoulder to look at the screen to see some type of computer generated person, a woman, standing by a computer generated sink as she washed dishes, "What are you doing?" he blinked, watching the computer screen curiously, "What game is this, anyway?"

"The Sims 3," the Hatter replied, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. She would have turned her head to see her probably but in the position they were both in, the Doctor with his face barely an inch away from hers as his cheek brushed hers, she didn't think that it would be such a good idea.

"Right…" the Doctor nodded slowly, casting a sideways look at her, only just noticing how close their faces were as he hoped she didn't notice the way his hearts speed up. He shook his head, forcing himself to not think too deeply at this moment in time, "And why are you playing it? Also, I didn't think computer games interested you?"

"Do I really need a reason to play a computer game?" the Doctor shrugged, "Exactly. As for you second question, I admit that I don't really play computer games but that doesn't mean that I don't find them fun. In fact, I find them a good way of tuning the world out, I can spend hours playing this one game alone and not even realise it. It's brilliant. Our minds, Doctor are constantly buzzing with information, there never still or quite, and yet, when you play something as simple as a 21st century Earth computer game, they seem to quieten and slow".

The Doctor stared at her before looking up at the computer screen, this time in a completely new light. As Time Lords, both his and the Hatter's brains were constantly picking up information and sorting it through, they never stopped and were always moving like a giant machine. He knew that if the Hatter had to describe it to a human, she would no doubt say something similar as to how Sherlock described his mind to John being like a hard drive, only they couldn't simply 'delete' things when their minds became to cluttered. It was just another useful and curse of being a Time Lord.

"Really?" he asked her, sounding interested now as he grabbed one of the swivel chairs, wheeling it over and sitting down on it.

"Really," the Hatter smiled, "I haven't looked into it much yet, but I believe that it has something to do with what parts of the brain that playing the game stimulates. Human or Time Lord, the game is going to have some effect, it's going to stimulate something".

"Like…like the parts of the brain that prossies information," the Doctor said thoughtfully, "It could help to speed things up, or maybe it slows everything down and makes it less of a rush".

"Just what I had been thinking," the Hatter nodded, grinning broadly as her bright green eyes sparkled in the same way they always did she was excited about something, "Who would have ever thought that a simple game could have such a wonderful effect of a brain as complex as ours?" she gave him an amused look, "Or in your case a _very_ complex brain".

"Very funny," he leant over to her and tweaked the tip of her nose, fighting to stop himself from laughing as she squirmed away from him, batting his hands. Once they had settled down, he turned back to the Hatter after looking at the screen, thoughtfully, "How do you play the game?"

The Hatter blinked at him, "You actually want to play the Sims 3?"

"I want to see if it has the same effect on me as it does on you," he told her quickly, covering up that the main reason was because he had just had a sudden idea what he could use a game that made virtual life for.

"Good idea," she nodded, not seeming to have taken any notice of his quick answer as she turned back to the screen and used the mouse to take the game back to the main menu, "Alright, it's all quite simple," she said, looking back at him as she began to explain, "You pick a town that you want to live in, and then when you get to the town you can either make your own family or pick a pre-made family. I suggest making your own first; it's a lot more fun".

"Easy," the Doctor smiled before frowning as a sudden thought came to him, "You never told me, but how did you first start playing this game?"

The Hatter laughed, "Oh, my companion Lily, you remember her, the girl with blonde hair and glasses?" the Doctor nodded, recalling meeting the young human woman when he was in his Sixth body, "Yes, well, she was a fan of the game and challenged me to see who could have the biggest family tree of Sims. She ended up being the winner because she had a lot more practise. I still say she cheated".

"Only you could agree to something like that," he shook his head, giving her a smile.

"I was challenged!" the Time Lady defended, "You know me, I never back down from a challenge. It's like you trying not to take us on an adventure that ends with us running for our lives".

"That's not my fault," the Doctor said, the Hatter gave him a look and he scratched the back of his head, "Well…maybe a little bit".

"You're TARDIS, Doctor".

"You know, sometimes I think that the only reason why you ever became my friend was to embarrass me".

"That implies that you don't already do that to yourself," the Hatter smiled, trying to stop herself from laughing, "Which I can assure you, sweetheart, that you do. Constantly".

"This is what I'm talking about," the Doctor said, waving his hand at her as he too tried not to laugh.

"You're a big boy, I'm sure you can handle it," the Hatter replied, standing and ruffling his hair before skipping over to the doors, giving him a wink over her should, "Good luck. Oh, and please don't blow the computer up, I'm rather fond of that one".

And with that, she gave him a cheery wave before disappearing behind the doors, closing them behind her as the Doctor turned back to the computer.

….

A few hours later, the Hatter was sitting in one of the kitchens, drinking her tea while she flickered through the book she was in the middle of reading in front of her, just as Rose walked in, "Cup of tea, Rose?" the Hatter asked her, glancing up at her.

Rose paused, looking slightly surprised to have come across the Hatter sitting in the middle of the kitchen, "I didn't see you there," she commented, crossing her arms as she leant against the kitchen cabinets.

"Well that's me," the Hatter smiled, looking cheerful, "Miss Blend-In. I always thought I should be a spy, but then again, knowing my bad luck and ability to trip over myself at the worse possible times, I'd end up blowing my own cover".

"Right…" Rose said slowly, eyeing the other woman as if she was trying to work out if she was joking, "Anyway," she finally said, "Where's the Doctor?"

"Games room," the Time Lady replied, "He's playing the Sims 3".

"The Sims what?" she frowned, looking confused, still crossing her arms and leaning against the kitchen cabinets as she watched other woman with a slightly cold look in her eyes, one that the Hatter pointedly ignored.

"It's a computer game from the 21st century," the Hatter told her, taking a sip of her tea before placing the empty cup back down, "It's basically a game that makes virtual reality. It's quite fun, well, the Doctor thinks so".

"You managed to get the Doctor to sit down and play a computer game?" the blonde stared at the other woman, trying extremely hard not to let on to how impressed she was against her own will.

"Maybe," the Hatter grinned, ducking her head slightly, pleased to finally get a response out of the human woman that didn't involve a glare or nasty remark, something that she couldn't understand because as far as she knew, she had never done anything that may have offended Rose. She wasn't used to having the Doctor's companions be so…cold toward her, that wasn't to say that she had got along with all of his companions straight away. Romana and she hadn't become friends at first, but after their first adventure together, both Time Ladies become fast friends and later on, more like sisters then the Hatter's real sister had ever been.

Maybe that was what it was, needing time to get to know each other better, and it was quite clear that Rose knew very little about that the Doctor's past adventures and travels, perhaps Rose was just upset that she had never been told about the Time Lady before. Either way, the Hatter certainly hoped that whatever it was that it would be cleared up quickly because she had spent enough of her life being glared at and had rude remarks thrown at her by her own cousins, and that was before she even entered into the Academy.

"How on Earth did you do that?" Rose asked before she could stop herself.

"I simply mixed science and entertainment together," the Hatter shrugged, "The Doctor was complaining that he was bored, so I pretended to get irritated by him and left him, knowing that he would eventually come looking for me which would then sneakily lead him to the games room where he would find me playing the Sims 3. Once he asked what I was doing, I then casually mentioned to him how playing the game helped to silence my mind, he became interested, add in a bet of friendly banter, and he fell hook line and sinker into my plan to entertain him without actually having to do anything at all".

"You tricked him," Rose gaped at her.

"Yes, but for his benefit," the Hatter smiled pleasantly, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love spending time with the Doctor. He's my best friend, but if you spend every moment together then the friendship would survivor. If I were to spend my every waking moment with that man, then I know that I would end up straggling him in his sleep, likewise for him. I merely did what I could to give us both a little break from each other so we don't end up killing one another".

"I guess I understand that," she nodded, looking reluctant. Silence fall over the two women as the Hatter turned back to her book and Rose watched her from the corner of her eye, still trying to work out what relationship the two Time Lords had between each other.

It was clear to her that they were both very close and had known each other for years, but that still didn't answer her question that she wanted to ask the Doctor, the question that terrified her in case the answer wasn't the one she wanted: was he or was he not in love with the Hatter? And if that was the case, then were did that leave her and the Doctor's relationship? Sometimes Rose liked to think that one day the Doctor would take her, just the two of them, to some alien planet and he would tell her that he was in love with her, and they would be together forever.

But that was before this woman, this Time Lady who the Doctor had never even mentioned before turned up and everything changed. Before, the Doctor would have always been on the move, hardly stopping for breath before they were off on another adventure, which was exhausting and incredible all at once, but now, it almost seemed as if the Doctor had calmed down, as if he had stopped going on adventures just to get in trouble, as if he had lost that reckless need for something to happen to him, but now it felt like it was to have adventures because of the fun and excitement of something new. It wasn't overly noticeably, but when Rose was around the Doctor, and the Hatter was in the room, it was like the Doctor seemed to take a breath of fresh air for the first time in years, like he had been starving and now he wasn't. And that only made Rose hate the Hatter even more.

She was the one who should have been able to do that, not her! So what if the Hatter was a Time Lady? Did that make her any better than her, a human girl? Why couldn't the Doctor just send the Hatter away so they could be together like they were meant to, like they were going to be before all of this happened? After all, it had been her that had been there for him when he was broken from the Time War; she had been the one who had been there when he regenerated and had taken care of him even though she didn't understand what was happening. And were had he Hatter been? Locked away inside some old fob watch and walking around, thinking she was human, useless to everyone.

And then suddenly she opened that watch and the Doctor wasn't alone, which Rose was happy that he wasn't the last of his kind, but did it really have to be a Time Lady? Not to mention a Time Lady he had been best friends with? Maybe if the Hatter had been a complete stranger then thing's would have been different, or better yet, a complete stranger who was a male Time Lord. Yes, that would have been better, but no, it just had to be a clever Time Lady whose best friends with the Doctor. Just brilliant.

The Hatter frowned slightly as she noticed that Rose was staring at her, and had been doing so for the past minute or so. She glanced up and blinked a few times at seeing the near furies look on Rose's face, "Rose, are you quite alright?" she asked after a moment, looking concerned as she made to stand.

Rose jumped, forgetting that the Hatter was still in the room, "I'm fine," she said shortly, casting the confused and concerned looking Time Lady an angry glare before storming out of the room, leaving the other woman to stare after her.

Rose marched through the corridors of the TARDIS, she quickly found her way to the games room and threw the doors open. The Doctor was still sitting in the same place the Hatter had left him earlier, but as he heard the doors open he jumped up, quickly blocking the screen from view.

"Rose," he smiled, not noticing the still slightly seething look on her face as he spun around on his chair to face her, "I've been worried about you, it's not like you to lock yourself away in your bedroom like that. The Hatter suggested that I should take you to see your mother…"

"I bet she did," Rose muttered under her breath, clinching her hands together as she pictured the Doctor and the Hatter taking her back home, the Doctor promising to come back and pick her up while they went off to some planet together, forgetting all about her, and never coming back.

"…but I thought that seeing your mother was a little extreme," the Doctor was still rambling, "But if you still want, I can always take you there. Well, just as long as Jackie doesn't…"

"Doctor," she cut him off, crossing her arms across her chest, "I need to ask you a question".

"Alright then".

Rose took a couple of deep breaths, opening and closing her mouth a few times as she realised that if she asked him if he loved her, then she would be giving away that she loved him, and she wasn't quite ready to do that yet.

"Rose?" the Doctor asked, looking at her questionably, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Rose quickly shook her head before slowing, frowning slightly, "Well…" she shook her head again, "No, it's just that…" well, she couldn't exactly tell him the truth without giving away her feelings for him, but then she thought of a question that had been annoying her since the first moment the Hatter had turned up, "Doctor, why didn't you ever tell me about the Hatter? Sarah Jane and your past companions I can sort of understand, but if she was your best friend, then why did you never tell me about her? I thought…I thought…" she hesitated, "I thought _we_ were best friends?"

"Of course we're best friends, Rose," the Doctor smiled gently at her, avoiding her other questions, "All of my companions are. You can have more than just one best friend".

"I know," she nodded, smiling slightly relived, "But that still doesn't explain why you never told me about her".

"We were busy," he tried shrugging it off, trying not to show his emotions, "Running around, saving the Universe, and stuff like that. There wasn't a lot of time for telling personally things, were there?"

Rose frowned, "Yeah, but when we weren't traveling around you could have mentioned her, even if it was just a small remark, but you never did. Not even an offhand comment. Why?"

"Why do you think, Rose?" the Doctor asked, his tone taking on a darker edge with pain laced through it, making her blink in surprise at his sudden change, "Why do you think that I never mentioned her? My best friend in the entire Universe, the woman who I would and still would do anything for, and the woman I thought was dead because of _me_!"

"Doctor…I didn't mean to upset you," she breathed, feeling terrible for clearly upsetting the Doctor so much. She hadn't even thought that maybe asking why he never mentioned the Hatter might upset him, that it might bring back bad memories.

The Doctor took a deep breath and sighed, rubbing his hands over his face, "No, no it's okay," he shook his head, looking back at her, "I shouldn't have snapped. I'm sorry," Rose could only nod, "Look, Rose, the reason I never told you about the Hatter was because it hurt," he told her, looking down as he closed his eyes, "I'd just lost everyone and losing her made it so much more…real," he smiled softly, opening his eyes, "I was so used to the thought of her still being there, of being able to go on adventures with her, and her death just…just…" he sighed painfully, losing the smile, "It destroyed me, Rose. Her death was the final straw; once I found out she was missing and presumed dead, nothing matted to me anymore".

Rose stared at him, never expecting to hear the Doctor talk like this about someone, filled with so much heartbreak and…was that love? Yes, it was, love. So much that it even seemed to reach out and touch her, but she knew it wasn't aimed at her, that of course wouldn't stop her from pretending that it was because she knew that the Doctor may think that he was in love with the Hatter, maybe he had a crush on her, but she knew better. She was meant to be with him, not some eccentric, hat wearing, ginger Time Lady.

"Well, that's what I thought," the Doctor continued, unaware of what was going through Rose's head, "There I was, freshly regenerated, and lying on the floor of the console room as I tried to come to grips with what I had done, completely prepared to open the TARDIS doors and throw myself out when I remembered the promise I had made to the Hatter before I left her on the finale night of Gallifrey. The promise to go back out and keep the Universe safe in her memory, to continue traveling, to find someone to take care of me," he gave Rose a pointed look at this, "And lastly, to not shut myself away but to hold my head high and never give up. And now, Rose Tyler, you know the reason I never told you about her," he finished, ending with another dark edge to his voice, "Because if I let myself talk about her or think about when I thought she had died, then I wouldn't have been able to keep my promise".

He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair before fixing an overly bright smile to his face, "But never mind all of that," he said after a moment, sounding and looking like a completely different person, "What's in the past is in the past…oh! Lunch time, have you ever tried the Hatter's salad sandwiches? I don't know what she does but there brilliant!"

Rose stared slightly wide eyed after him as he walked passed her and hurried through the doors, leaving her behind. It was like receiving verbal whiplash, one moment he was upset, the next he was almost angry, and the next he was back to his normal, happy self (or should she say trying to act like he was?) as he talked about sandwiches.

She shook her head and headed toward the door when the light coming off the Doctor's computer made her pause and look back at it to see that the game was still up. Deciding that it could hurt to look, she doubled back and looked at the screen to see two people, she supposed that they must have been called 'the Sims,' one with brown hair that seemed to stick up, dressed in a brown pin-striped suit, but rose couldn't see his face because the Sim appeared to be in the middle of kissing another. The second Sim was a woman this time with red hair that had a slight wave to it, along with a hat, dressed in a pair of jeans, purple T-shirt, and purple converse.

Rose almost gasped aloud as she realised just who these Sims were supposed to be, and she was only proven further when she hovered the mouse over each Sims and there name popped up. The man: Theta Doctor. The woman: Ariana Hatter-Doctor. Apparently, both Sims had just got married to each other.

So many different emotions swirled around Rose as she stared at the screen, anger, shock, betrayal, and they all ended in denial. The Doctor must have just run out of names and thought that those would be good, she almost laughed as she pictured a blonde Sims with her name being there somewhere. Yes, that's what must have happened, as if the Doctor wound ever make a Sims vision of himself and the Hatter and marry them with each other…right?

_**Well, I think you might be able to tell my inspiration for this, and once I got the image of all of this happening, well, I couldn't not write it down and turn it into a one-shot, could I? Not to mention I was missing the Ninth Hatter back when she had no idea about the Doctor being in love with her, I forgot how much I enjoyed writing those two with the underlining flirting that they think of being 'friendly banter'. This chapter also gave me a chance to write a bit of Rose's thoughts on the Hatter, how in denial she is about her and the Doctor ending up together. Hmm, now that we know what she thinks, this will make The Stolen Earth/Journey's End very interesting. We also got the chance to see the Hatter's thoughts on why she thinks Rose doesn't like her, but I think it's safe to say that an ice age will pass before Rose and she became close friends, which Is a shame seeing as I can see the Hatter feeling pretty lonely without having someone other than the Doctor to talk to.**_

_**I don't know when I'll get the chance to update 'Time Lady and her Time Lord' because I'm sick at the moment and the only reason I wrote this was because it was mostly written to begin with, only needing to add a few things before editing. **_

_**I hope you liked it, please review :)**_


	4. Chapter 4 A trip to the park

_**A trip to the park.**_

_**Featuring: the Sixth Doctor, the Fifth Hatter, Peri Brown, and Lily Winters.**_

"Hatter, where are we going now?" Lily asked, leaning against the railing in the console room while she watched as the brunette Time Lady danced around the console, a large grin on her face.

"Oh, you know," the Hatter glanced over at her companion, her forest green eyes twinkling at her as she shrugged, "Places".

"Yeah, can we please not do the whole 'I'm a Time Lady with a secret' thing?" Lily groaned, crossing her arms across her chest, "Because usually when you do that we end up running for our lives on some alien planet while you blabber on about her fascinating you think things are, or better yet, crack up laughing like the Mad Hatter that you are".

"Hey, I take offense at that!" the Time Lady said loudly, pointing a finger at the other woman, "I don't blabber," Lily rolled her, shaking her head, "I've never blabbered. I simply get a little carried away and end up talking a little too much, but I can't help that, nor can I help it if I find the situation amusing. You, Lily Winters, simply don't know how to appreciate my wonderful sense of humour".

"Careful, Hatter," Lily gave her a half serious look while trying not to smile, "Your ego's starting to show".

The Hatter rolled her eyes, spinning dramatically away from the console and over to her companion, quickly smacking her lightly on the back of her head before jumping back to the controls, "Careful, Lily," she waved a finger at her over her should as Lily yelped in surprise and began rubbing the back of her head, "Your sense of humour is starting to show, now we wouldn't want that to happen, hmm?"

"Yeah, yeah," she shook her head, "But seriously, Hatter, we are we going? Because I sort of want to be prepared to start running for my life, and I can't do that until you tell me where you're taking us".

"Oh, come on, Winters!" the Hatter sighed, shooting her a look, "Where's your sense of adventure today? Stop being all doom and gloom before we've even landed. Come on, think positive! Repeat after me, today is going to be brilliant and fun. Okay, now you say it".

Lily sighed, rolling her eyes, "Today is going to be brilliant and fun…"

"Exactly," the Hatter grinned, clapping her hands together excitedly like a small child, "See? That wasn't so hard".

"I stand by what I said earlier," Lily stared at the Hatter with a strange look on her face, "You really are mad".

"Flattery will only get you so far with me, Lily," the Time Lady replied, still smiling as she pressed a couple of buttons on the controls.

"Who said it was a compliment?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Honestly, kids these days," the Hatter shook her head mockingly, "No respect for their elders. I miss the old days when youngest knew how to treat a lady, be it a Time Lady but the point still stands".

"Well, when I see one I'll be sure to treat her with respect".

"Funny," the Hatter replied dryly, "It's nice to see your sense of humour making a timely appearance, oh how I how missed it".

"Hatter," Lily sighed, stepping away from the railing and making her way over to the Time Lady, "Can you please tell me where you're taking us?"

"Fine," she let out a heavy sigh, "We're going to a lovely little park in the heart of London. I've visited it once or twice before with an old friend of mine, but that was a while back. Lifetimes in fact. We were completely different people back then," she smiled as she thought back, "Huh; I wonder whatever Alistair did with old Bessie, I do miss that old car".

Lily sighed and clicked her fingers together in front of the Time Lady's face, use to the Hatter getting lost in her own thoughts, "Hello, can you focus, please," she shook her head as the Hatter's eyes snapped back to hers, "Before you go off back down memory lane, can you please explain why we're going to some park in the middle of London? You have a time machine, why can't we go to another planet?"

"Oh, so now you want to go off on an adventure to another planet?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows, looking as if she was fighting back the urge to laugh, "Do make up your mind, Winters".

"I'm just saying," she shrugged, "I'm British, I grew up in London so forgive me if I don't find the idea of going to some park I've probably been to before not as appealing as you".

"Nice try, Winters, but you're not fooling me," the Hatter smiled, waving a finger at her, "I know you better than you think. Now come on," she grabbed her companions hand and dragged her toward the doors, throwing them open and stepping out to find them standing in the middle of an open park with tress and bushies dotted all around.

Lily blinked as she looked around, spotting a playground with a couple of children and their parents off in the distance, a man and woman dressed in clothing that appeared to be from the eighties walking hand in hand along a dirt path close by. She shook her head and turned to look behind her to see a large pond behind them.

"Okay," she said slowly, glancing at the Hatter standing beside her, looking at her slightly smugly, "I'm never going to get used to this".

"That's a good thing," the Hatter replied, "Because the day that you step outside those doors and don't feel that why is the day that it's your time to go. Nothing can last forever, time changes all things and this is no different, it's sad but so very true, but hopefully that won't happen for a long while yet".

Lily grinned at her, nudging her side, "Aw, I knew you liked me".

"Don't push your luck, Winters," the Hatter said jokily, giving her a fond smile as she turned and set off toward the pond, her dark blue and multi coloured polka dotted umbrella swinging on her arm as she walked.

Lily shook her head and quickly hurried after the Time Lady, "So, what's the date?" she asked as she fell into step with her.

"Take a stab in the dark".

"My mother always told me not to run with sharp objects," Lily said cheekily.

"Well, isn't it luck that she's not here?" the Hatter smiled, looking amused.

Lily laughed, shaking her head as she cast a glance at the people walking around the park close to them, "Hmm, judging by the clothing," she began, "I'd say it's either the eighties or the nineties".

"Who's to say it's not sometime in the future?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows, "You can't always go by appearances, Lily," she gestured down herself, "Take me for instance, I may look like a human but I am most defiantly not one. Appearance can be easy to fool".

"Okay, so are we in my future? I mean, I came from the year 2010, are we in my future?"

The Hatter paused and glanced at her, smiling, "Actually, you got it right the first time. It's the year 1985, March the 5th".

"Then why…" Lily frowned, looking confused but the Hatter cut her off.

"I was trying to teach you a lesson in not just going by appearance," the Hatter explained, "The world of time travel is a big, confusing, jumble of things that are far too hard for me to explain to you just now but give me a couple of lifetimes and a whiteboard with one of those lovely markers and I'll tell you all about it. But that's getting off the topic, what I am trying to say is that you need to have a keen eye, look at everything, Winters, take it all in".

"Who are?" Lily shook her head, "Sherlock Holmes?"

"No, but I have heard that he's quite a charming man," the Hatter replied, making Lily's jaw drop, "Nothing like how he's depicted in the books or TV shows, mind you".

"Wait, hold on!" Lily pushed passed the Hatter and stood in front of her, making the Time Lady stop, "Are you seriously telling me that Sherlock Holmes, as in _the_ Sherlock Holmes is real? And you've meet him?"

"Of course he's not real," the Hatter rolled her eyes, laughing as Lily quickly closed her mouth, "I was joking. You should really know me better by now, Winters".

Lily shot her a glare and hit her arm as she began walking backwards, "Shut up, how was I supposed to know if Sherlock bloody Holmes is real or not? I mean, I've only been doing this time traveling thing for a month now, as far as I'm concerned Merlin or Harry Potter could be real".

"Trust me, there not," the Hatter sighed, looking slightly disappointed, "I wish they were, I would love to meet them both. Can you imagine it? I once had a dream were I meet them. It was brilliant. We had tea and biscuits".

"Of course you did," Lily rolled her eyes when she suddenly felt her back run into something hard behind her, causing her to yelp in surprise and lose her balance, causing her to find herself landing face first into the grass.

"Would you look were you're going?" a man's voice snapped from above her, sounding deeply annoyed.

"Lillian," the Hatter sighed, looking slightly concerned as she dragged her eyes away from where she had been watching a couple of dukes on the pond to see her companion sprawled across the ground a short distance away with a tall man with curly, blonde hair and dressed in a outlandish, multi coloured coat, striped, yellow trousers, a dark brown knitted waistcoat, and a turquoise polka-dot cravat, a plain white shirt with question marks embroider on the collar, and a pair of green boots with orange spats. Not an outfit that you would see every day, even in the world of time travel.

Lily groaned, rolling herself over as she felt the bridge of her nose start to throb from where her black rimmed glasses had pressed into it. Thank goodness the Hatter had taken her to alien market and had the glass changed to a special type of glass that was near impossible to damage a couple of weeks back, otherwise she would have been in trouble, "I'm fine," she said, sitting up as the Hatter reached them, still looking concerned.

"Yes, well, severs you right for walking backwards," the Time Lady shook her head, glancing at the annoyed looking man who was glaring at her companion, and back to Lily, "Now, if you have stopped lying about, Winters, I believe you owe someone an apology".

"Oh, right," Lily blinked, pulling herself off the ground and brushing some of the dirt off her jeans and T-shirt as she turned to the man, "Um, sorry, mate, I didn't see you there".

"Obviously," the man replied stiffly, his bright blue eyes still narrowed at the young blonde woman in front of him, "And I am not your mate!"

"I didn't mean to upset you…buddy," Lily frowned slightly, glancing at the Hatter who was eyeing the man strangely with a small frown of her own, "I just…"

"And nor am I your 'buddy,'" he shot her another look, beginning to grow even more aggravated by each passing second.

"Hey…" Lily started to say but the Hatter stepped in, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Now, I think we should calm down before things get out of hand," the Time Lady said calmly, giving Lily a slightly pointed look, knowing how her temper could get the better of her at times before turning to the man, giving him a small smile, "I apologise for my friend, she can get a little carried away at times," she held out her hand, "I'm the Hatter".

The man eyes flicked away from Lily and to the Hatter's face, seeming to have only just noticed that she was there at all. His entire body froze as his eyes widened as he took a small step back from the Hatter, staring at her as if he had seen a ghost. Recognition passed his face, along with a couple of other emotions that neither woman could place before they disappeared and were replaced with a blank mask.

"Hatter," he said slowly, staring at her as he ran his eyes down her body and back up to her face, not that she noticed but Lily certainly did, "I see you don't recognize me, but why should you? After all, I look quite different from the last time we last saw each other. An improvement from the feckless charm of the last one".

The Hatter frowned, "We've meet before?"

A genuine smile made its way onto the stranger's face, one that looked familiar to the Hatter, along with an almost amused twinkle in his eyes as he stared into the Hatter's eyes, "You could say that," he nodded, the Hatter continued frowning at him.

"Are you a Time Lord?" Lily spoke up, looking in-between the man and the Hatter, not exactly sure what was going on in front of her, not that, that made a big change.

But before the man could reply, a young woman with short brown hair, brown eyes, and dressed in a pair of heels, shorts, and a low cut, tightly fitted shirt appeared beside the man with an ice cream in her hand, "Doctor, what's going on?" the woman asked with a American accent as she looked in-between them.

"Oh…" the Hatter gasped, her eyes snapping to the Doctor's as she stared at him in surprise and shock, "It's you…you've regenerated".

"Yes, recently," the Doctor told her, "You couldn't sense me?"

"My mental shields are up," she replied, shrugging, "And I wasn't expecting to run into my best friend here. _You_ couldn't sense me?" she added in a slight teasing tone in her voice.

"Hang on," Lily cut in before the Doctor could answer, "You're the Hatter's best friend? As in the best friend she's always talking about?"

"I don't always talk about him, Winters," the Hatter rolled her eyes, a faint ting of pink spreading it's self across her pale cheeks as the Doctor looked slightly smug. She shot him a look before shaking her head and flashing a bright smile at the woman who was clearly the Doctor's latest companion, "Hello, I don't believe we have been introduced, I'm the Hatter".

"Peri Brown," the woman smiled, glancing at the Doctor and back to the Time Lady, "It's nice to finally meet the famous Hatter," she nodded her head at the Doctor, "He's told me all about you".

"Oh, really?" she raised her eyebrows at the Doctor, "Nice things, I hope?"

"Peri, why don't you and this…" the Doctor trailed off as he fixed Lily an irritated glare, remembering there less than pleasant meeting from before.

"It's Lily, Lily Winters," the blonde sighed, giving the Time Lord an annoyed look of her own as she folded her arms across her chest. This guy might have been the Hatter's best friend but that didn't mean that she was going to forget how rude he had been earlier.

"Hmm," he hummed, still eyeing her before shaking his head, "Well, why don't you and Peri go and do…something".

"I think what my idiot of a friend is trying to say," the Hatter cut in, giving the Doctor a strange look, "Is for you two go and get to know each other better while we discuss some matters".

"Time Lord matters, you mean," Lily said, exchanging a look with Peri.

"Something like that," the Hatter smiled slightly before making shooing motions with her hands, "Now off you girls go, don't get yourselves kidnapped, don't talk to strangers, and Lily, I say this to you, don't walk backwards and run into another Time Lord. The last thing we need is for you to end up running, quite literally into the Master, but knowing your luck you would".

"The who?" she stared at the Time Lady, "You can't seriously be telling me that there's a Time Lord who calls himself 'the Master?'"

"Believe me, the Master is not anyone that you wish to come across," the Hatter warned her, looking very serious before she lightly pushed her companions shoulder, "But never mind him. Off you go, ladies, go on. Have fun…but not too much fun".

Lily rolled her eyes, exchanging looks with Peri before both girls turn and walked away, striking up a conversation about each other's Time Lords. The Hatter sighed and held back a groan as she heard what they were saying before they disappeared, feeling as if she would come to regret getting those two to get to know each other, seeing as it seemed to be a requiring habit for both Time Lords companions to become friends and team up together to torment both Time Lords.

An awkward silence fell over the Time Lords once the girls had disappeared as they glanced at each other, "So…" the Hatter started after a moment as she crossed her arms across her chest and fixed the Doctor with a stern look, "When were you planning on telling me about your regeneration?"

"I wasn't aware that I had to," he replied, seriously.

The Hatter stared at him for a moment, "Doctor, are you angry at me?" she asked finally in a quiet voice, "Did I do something wrong or…?"

"Like what?" the Doctor frowned.

"Well, if I knew I wouldn't be asking you, now would I? I mean, this is the first regeneration that I haven't been with you, and I'm just wondering if you're angry with me because of that".

"Of course I'm not angry with you, Hatter," the Doctor shook his head, "Besides, I'm glad I regenerated, my last self-had that feckless charm that simply wasn't me. This new me is certainly the biggest improvement of all of my other selves to far".

"Your fifth self wasn't fickle," the Hatter frowned at him, "He was strong and brave, an exactly swordsmen, and a brilliant listener. He helped me when I needed him most after April died, so forgive me if I can't agree with you when you say that this new you is an improvement".

"He was weak," the Doctor argued, "Not fit to defend the Universe against the likes of the Daleks, the Cybermen, or the Master! How could he possibly think that all he had to do was say a couple of words and things would be all good and jolly again? Action, Hatter, that is how you keep the Universe safe".

"I can't believe I'm hearing this, and from you of all people," the Hatter shook her head in disbelief as she stared at him, "Violence is never the answer, it only makes the situation worse. Words are just as powerful as any weapon, Doctor, if used wisely".

The Doctor scoffed, "My, my, my," he tutted, "I thought that you were smarter than that, but I see that despite all that you have witnessed throughout your travels you still look at the Universe and see nothing but a fantasy land were nothing bad ever happens. You disappoint me".

"_I_ disappoint _you_?" the Hatter hissed, struggling to keep her anger in check. How in Rassilon's name did there simple chat turn into something so heated in so little time? "Have you completely lost you mind? If anyone is the disappointment it would be you, standing there, talking about violence as if it's something good. And how dare you accuse me of living in a fantasy world where everything is fine and dandy when we have both lost people that we have cared for. In what deluded part of your mind is that a good thing?"

"Well, perhaps if you had been more capable of defending your companions then perhaps none of them would have died," he said before he realised fully what he had said, regretting it as soon as it had left his mouth. How could he of all people possibly say something that hurtful to her, knowing perfectly well how much guilt she still felt, "No, Hatter…"

A loud slap echoed through the air as the Hatter slapped him across his face, causing his head to snap back from the harsh impact, a painful burning pain following quickly after. An old couple walking passed them gasped and hurried passed them as the Hatter glared at him, her fists clenched at her sides as she tried to stop herself from shaking.

"You have no right to speak to me like that, Doctor," she spat, furiously, "You maybe my best friend but that does not give you the right to use my _own_ guilt against me. I would have given up my own life without hesitation for all of my companions, not to mention yours, and your life".

"Hatter, I didn't mean it," the Doctor tried, trying to reach out and touch her arm but she stepped away from him, "Please, I am so sorry…"

"And you think this new you is better than your past self," the Hatter shook her head, "At least he was never this arrogant and hurtful".

The Doctor flinched at her words but he quickly shrugged it off and stepped forward, grabbing her shoulders before she could move away again, "Hatter, look at me," she shook her head, making him sigh slightly and spuriously gently lifted her chin up so she could meet his eyes, "I am sorry, so very sorry, Hatter. It was never my intention to hurt you and your right; I allowed my arrogance to get the better of me. Please, I can't stand seeing you upset, forgive me?"

She took a deep breath before exhaling it, closing her eyes before slowly nodding, "I forgive you, Doctor," she told him softly, opening her eyes but the Doctor knew that she hadn't finished yet, "But I can't say that you didn't hurt me, and I defiantly don't agree with your new views on violence, but we have known each other long enough to know when the other means what they say. But make no mistake, I may forgive you but that does not mean that I will allow you to get away with this".

"I will do anything," the Doctor said without hesitation, something that was unlike this regeneration to be so willing to do anything for another person, but then again, this was the Hatter and she wasn't just anyone to him.

The Time Lady gave him a small smile, "Oh believe me, I will be holding you to that," the Doctor gave her a smile of his own before she continued, her voice lighter and happier then before, "Now, I suppose we had best go and track down our companions before they get themselves kidnapped or something".

"Indeed," the Doctor nodded, casting a glance around the park, "I never seem too find a companion who doesn't end up finding themselves in trouble of some sort".

"Yes, all of my companions have been the same," the Hatter agreed, "But then again, I think that having a companion who didn't end up getting themselves in trouble would end up being quite dull, and I refuse to have adventure that is dull".

"And I am quite sure your companions would agree. Now, come on," he grabbed her hand, surprising her and set off looking for their companions.

"So, Doctor, tell me all about this regeneration of yours?"

_**First off, a big thank you to Phantomhawk-writer for suggesting that I write this, sorry for its lateness but I really wanted to finish writing up the last chapter for Time Lady and her Time Lord before starting this. **_

_**This was my first ever attempt of writing the Sixth Doctor so I don't know how well it turned out, but I hope, for those who have watched him, that he seemed to be in partly character but I do have to confess that I've only managed to watch a couple of episodes with him in it. I know it probably seemed like the Hatter let the Doctor off after what he said, but believe me, the Hatter will make sure that he never forgets, as you've around seen in my other stories with her mentioning it, and somehow I think that would be worse for the Doctor to be reminded of how badly he hurt her even after all those years.**_

_**Anyway, I hope you liked it, if you have any suggestions on what you would like me to do next then feel free to let me know. Please review :)**_


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